Kindle Scout

So, yesterday I submitted my novel to Kindle Scout. For those who don't know what it is--any writer can submit their ready-to-be-published novel for a 30-day popularity contest. If, at the end of 30 days, your popularity is deemed worthy enough (by some unknown Amazonian algorithm) you'll be awarded an exclusive publishing contract with Amazon and $1,500 USD.

I'll be updating this thread (maybe daily) with updates from the process, including different advertising strategies and other random thoughts.

Cheers.

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I'll sure follow how it goes, might try it myself at some point.
Already have some questions: this exclusive contract with Amazon is for which volume of books? And secondly: does this apply only for novels or also for e.g. novelettes or a collection of short stories?

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“It’s the artist’s responsibility to balance mystical communication and the labor of creation.” Patti Smith, Just Kids

Already have some questions: this exclusive contract with Amazon is for which volume of books? And secondly: does this apply only for novels or also for e.g. novelettes or a collection of short stories?

The contract is only for the manuscript you submit. The contract does not touch any affiliated books.

Kindle Scout only accepts novels from these genres: scifi, fantasy, romance, and mystery. You know, the classics.

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Hey, look, I have a To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. where I do more things with words. Born in San Francisco. Grew up in SC. 8 years in Baltimore. 1 year & counting in Germany.

So the campaign kicked off about 6 hours ago. You can check it out here

Two important things I learned yesterday:
1. Find a typo and the Kindle Scout team will fix the typo.
2. Images in the manuscript are not allowed during the campaign. Bit of a kick in the pants for me, but nothing world shattering.

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Hey, look, I have a To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. where I do more things with words. Born in San Francisco. Grew up in SC. 8 years in Baltimore. 1 year & counting in Germany.

As for other options for independent publishing, no not really. There are always small printing/publishing houses that you can try to publish through.

Other than that, you're pretty much left to your own devices shouting into the void. Build your brand and attempt to get as much quality work out there so you start to get some recognition.

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Hey, look, I have a To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. where I do more things with words. Born in San Francisco. Grew up in SC. 8 years in Baltimore. 1 year & counting in Germany.

Yep, nominating is all that's need. You can download the excerpt to Kindle (or whatever), but totally unnecessary as you can read the excerpt in your browser.

Thanks for the nomination!

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Hey, look, I have a To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. where I do more things with words. Born in San Francisco. Grew up in SC. 8 years in Baltimore. 1 year & counting in Germany.

For me, the process seems somewhat confusing with no set system. A book could get hundreds of nominations and yet in the end it's up to the Kindle Scout team's discretion? and I'd like to know how much advertising clout they have on Amazon as you take a 20% cut in profits compared to just publishing through KDP. Not to be entirely negative it does sound like a good idea to give struggling first time authors a chance.

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Never quite writing enough.

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It's all a bit nebulous, from the advertising they promise if you win to what actually constitutes winning.

I've been in touch with someone who received 1,500+ page views (you have no way of knowing how many votes you get) and a significant number of hot & trending hours--and she wasn't selected.

Ultimately I'm going to stick with my original plan--be happy with the last 30 days as a great way to gain some solid advertising experience.

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Hey, look, I have a To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. where I do more things with words. Born in San Francisco. Grew up in SC. 8 years in Baltimore. 1 year & counting in Germany.

So I finally heard back on Friday or Saturday--Charlotte Gnoll was not selected for publication. Totally wasn't surprised though, because while statistics are hard to come by, it was clear I wasn't getting a lot of traction. Basically I was getting 50% page views from links I'd sent out and 50% kindle scout page views. I imagine you'd need something like a 25:75 ration favoring the in-house Scout traffic to drive a win.

While I'm definitely bummed, it was a great experience in doing some first time dedicated advertising. I'll continue to push toward self publication, with the goal of getting it out on Dec. 1st.

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Hey, look, I have a To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. where I do more things with words. Born in San Francisco. Grew up in SC. 8 years in Baltimore. 1 year & counting in Germany.